South Houston police chief’s job on the line

South Houston Police Chief Herbert Gilbert could be voted out by City Council. (City of South Houston photo)

Citing dissatisfaction with Police Chief Herbert Gilbert, South Houston Mayor Joe Soto said Friday he had asked Gilbert to resign.

“We need a new leader, that’s all,” Soto said. “The chief’s a really nice guy, but you can’t be a nice guy and run a department, I guess. You’ve got to be a boss.”

Since Gilbert chose not to resign, the mayor said, a vote on whether to retain the chief is scheduled for Tuesday at the South Houston City Council meeting.

Gilbert, who has been chief since October 2003, said he had no idea what was coming when the mayor asked to talk to him late Thursday at City Hall.

“This was just flat-out a punch in the face,” Gilbert said.

A South Houston police officer for 13 years before being appointed chief by former Mayor Eloise Smith, Gilbert has held the top post longer than either of his two immediate predecessors — Sharon Highfill, who resigned in 2003 after two years, and Al Garcia, who served as chief from 1999 to 2001, when his contract was not renewed.

Gilbert said the mayor criticized him in Thursday’s conversation for not disciplining officers on the basis of verbal complaints. Soto also was not happy that the municipal court was not bringing in as much revenue as last year, Gilbert said.

Soto denied making such statements but cited a “lack of confidence” in the chief.

“I’ve talked to him until I was blue in the face,” Soto said.

Gilbert, 54, is a former Houston firefighter and previously played quarterback for the Houston Gunners, a semi-pro football team whose members are police officers or firefighters. He is now a coach for the team, he said.